The regime raises the Syrian flag on the edge of the Golan occupied by Israel

Syrian regime forces hoisted the national flag on a crossing point on the border of the Israeli-occupied Golan, four years after losing control of this area to rebels.

These forces entered the area separating Syrian territory from the occupied part of the Golan Heights, and raised the flag on the Quneitra, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). The Syrian police then deployed to the area.

"The regime's forces entered the destroyed city of Quneitra (capital of the province of the same name) and took control of the main crossing point with the occupied Golan," the Observatory said. 19659003] According to the pro-regime daily Al-Watan, "the army raised the flag at the Qouneitra roadblock a few dozen meters from the Israeli enemy's soldiers."

The Golan is located in the province of Quneitra in southern Syria. Much of this strategic plateau was occupied in 1967 by Israel and then annexed. A dividing line separates the two parts of the Golan.

The official Sana agency confirmed the entry of the army in the "city of Qouneitra after eradicating the presence (of groups) terrorists".

The province of Quneitra fell almost totally in the hands of the Syrian regime after a brief military offensive followed by the conclusion of agreements for the surrender of the rebels or their evacuation from the region.

Only Five localities in the northeastern suburbs of the city of Quneitra still elude him and according to the director of the OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahman, the rebels there should "soon" accept the agreements proposed by the regime to surrender weapons or to evacuate the region.

Once these localities are resumed, the Bashar al-Assad regime "will control the whole province of Quneitra and the sector (on the Syrian side) of the line of demarcation with the occupied Golan", he said.

The city of Qouneitra and its main crossing point were under the control of rebel groups and the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, dominated by fighters from al-Qaeda's former branch in Syria.

The crossing point, which remained closed, was used before the outbreak of the war in Syria in 2011 for visits by relatives living in the occupied and unoccupied parts of the Golan.